Animal Kingdom overtakes Epcot

[joshjoned]

Well... this was a topic here when it was new news in April of 2018.

DAK's number rose more than the other 3 WDW parks precisely because of Pandora, RoL, and becoming an "all day park."

Then our insiders related that this freaked some Disney execs when they realized that when SWL opens in DHS, Epcot would become their #4 park in Orlando. Epcot is huge and has some cachet as a premier theme park. So, to think of it dropping to #4, behind DHS, even, it was to shudder.

Thus, the timetable for Rat was moved up a year. Also moved up was a new fireworks show, but since the new permanent one wouldn't be ready in time, they're doing in interim show.

They also expanded the entertainment schedule at the festivals of Art and Flower. And they're rushing to get two new restaurant added this calendar year.

All this to boost Epcot's numbers: more rock acts, longer festivals, new fireworks show, new restaurants. That should get it to surpass DAK and still be #3 in 2019 when SWL opens.

Then the following year, there will be Rat opening, and the year after that, GotG (and maybe the Poppins ride), and the year after that, maybe Brazil.

It will be back at #2 when it's all said and done, watch. And all the naysayers on this thread will still be complaining. Can't please everyone.

 

[MisterPenguin]

If Hollywood Studios is more popular, why was it the only Disney park to see a decrease in attendance in 2017?

Are you referring to its precipitous 0.5% drop from 2016 to 2017 all the while being up 13% from a decade ago?

 

[joshjoned]

Are you referring to its precipitous 0.5% drop from 2016 to 2017 all the while being up 13% from a decade ago?

yes

 

[The Empress Lilly]

What rides are you referring to? Soarin, Test Track, Mission:Space, Ratatouille and Guardians of the Galaxy are all I got.

I was referring to the notion that EPCOT has never been a ride park. That is not true. Over time the focus of EPCOT has shifted, from FW to WS, from rides to boozing up, from E-tickets to festivals.

EPCOT was a ride park once. By year one FW had this line up, six E-tickets: SSE, Energy, Horizons, Motion, Imagination, LttL. Each one surpassing Mansion and Pirates in length and size, each one huge capacity (surpringly, capacity solves queues even more effectively than faspasses). FW had the most astonishing concentration of rides a Disney park had ever seen.

 

[justintheharris]

I was referring to the notion that EPCOT has never been a ride park. That is not true. Over time the focus of EPCOT has shifted, from FW to WS, from rides to boozing up, from E-tickets to festivals.

EPCOT was a ride park once. By year one FW had this line up, six E-tickets: SSE, Energy, Horizons, Motion, Imagination, LttL. Each one surpassing Mansion and Pirates in length and size, each one huge capacity (surpringly, capacity solves queues even more effectively than faspasses). FW had the most astonishing concentration of rides a Disney park had ever seen.

I’m not so sure I can call some of those E tickets... Living With The Land is quite a stretch for that. I’ll give ya Spaceship Earth and Horizons and maybe Imagination but I’m not so sure about World of Motion, Universe of Energy or Living With The Land.

 

[JohnD]

Based on a lot of reviews, it already is. I always overhear families hyping up slinky dog, rockin roller coaster, tower of terror, and star tours. But never Test Track, Mission Space, or Frozen in general conversation. If anything, when they're brought up everyones like "Oh yea!!"

Epcot only has the attendance it has still because of those annual pass items. Walking through the check in and walking back out 3 times so that annual passholders can get their cutting board... The free figment magnet... (Guilty as charged haha get it). That really boosted attendance from the passholders community. Just check out the facebook pages! "Can I just scan my park ticket 3 times on the same day? Or do I have to come 3 different days?"

There ya go.

Guilty too. I did that over MLK weekend. Don't forget the year round "festivals" used as a draw also. Another posted talked about the over 35 crowd attending. There's a reason that more senior guests are highlighted especially in promotions for the F&W festival. They aren't there for the attractions. Which is fine. I like that aspect of exploring WS pavilions of Epcot that the other parks don't have.

 

[WondersOfLife]

If Hollywood Studios is more popular, why was it the only Disney park to see a decrease in attendance in 2017?

2017 is different from 2018. And will ESPECIALLY be different in 2019.

 

[MaryJaneP]

Epcot, innoventions and communicore, have become #2 to us, and it is unfortunate that TDO had done nothing to make it anything other than #2. oh... wait.... does #2 mean that?

 

[joshjoned]

2017 is different from 2018. And will ESPECIALLY be different in 2019.

I doubt Toy Story land made a difference the way Pandora made for Animal Kingdom. As for 2019, SWGE will open by the end of the year at HS, which will not make much a difference in the 2019 numbers. 2020 is a different story, but by then Epcot is getting some editions of it's own, and by 2021 will supposedly have a massive roller coaster that appears will surpass any other current coaster at WDW.

 

[MisterPenguin]

Epcot, innoventions and communicore, have become #2 to us, and it is unfortunate that TDO had done nothing to make it anything other than #2. oh... wait.... does #2 mean that?

We're talking attendance figures, not people's subjective rating of the parks.

 

[aliceismad]

What really hurt Epcot was FOP. Because Soarin used to be one of the most popular rides at WDW and a must do. But FOP is so much better than Soarin that it cannablized Soarin. (and changing to the inferior World Soarin from California Soarin didn't help either).

FOP and Soarin have similar ride styles, but I don't know that the random Joe off the street would even think about that. They just think new = good and FOP has great reviews. (Granted I've not been on FOP, but my understanding from reviews and youtube is that it's much more an "innovative" action adventure type ride. Soarin is not billed as such.)

 

[HoustonHorn]

FOP and Soarin have similar ride styles, but I don't know that the random Joe off the street would even think about that. They just think new = good and FOP has great reviews. (Granted I've not been on FOP, but my understanding from reviews and youtube is that it's much more an "innovative" action adventure type ride. Soarin is not billed as such.)

Maybe, maybe not. I had never heard the comparison before riding FoP. But the minute I got off FoP, I described it to my wife as "all of the fun drop sequences from Soarin'." Now, there's a much better queue and pre-show, and you sit in a much more unique position. But at the end of the day, it's not that much different than Soarin'.

 

[aliceismad]

Maybe, maybe not. I had never heard the comparison before riding FoP. But the minute I got off FoP, I described it to my wife as "all of the fun drop sequences from Soarin'." Now, there's a much better queue and pre-show, and you sit in a much more unique position. But at the end of the day, it's not that much different than Soarin'.

That's interesting because when I think of Soarin' I don't really think of fun drop sequences. Maybe that's just my ride experience.

 

[HoustonHorn]

That's interesting because when I think of Soarin' I don't really think of fun drop sequences. Maybe that's just my ride experience.

"Drop sequences" may not be fully accurate. I'm talking about the transition between each one where you're all of a sudden about to hit the whale and Soarin', for lack of a better term, gets "fun." The parts that made my 3 year old super-excited!

 

[erasure fan1]

To me I'll never understand how all of that stuff bothers people, but they're OK with waiting 45 minutes to get on a subway train to take them a mile.

I'm guessing it has something to do with the fact that the subway doesn't cost 5 grand to ride for the week. Cost is a major factor for expectations. When you pay that much, you expect a better experience than the day to day normal activity equivalents.